


With Or Without

by pendragonfics



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, And Has Been Since 2008, F/M, Female Reader, Fluff, Happy Hogan Is Done With Your Shit, Miscommunication, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Pre-Spider-Man: Homecoming, She/her pronouns for reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-06
Updated: 2018-12-06
Packaged: 2019-09-12 11:59:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16872555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pendragonfics/pseuds/pendragonfics
Summary: In a world where Happy Hogan stays as a driver for Tony Stark, he's shocked one day when Peter isn't at his place in Queens. Enter _______, the friend of the Parker family slash Aunt to Peter, and Happy issmitten. Is it because of her carefree attitude? The fact she isn't a hero like all the other people he knows? Or because he's just in love and won't admit it?The answer? Yes. Yes, to all.





	With Or Without

**Author's Note:**

> I've opened requests up again, and this was the first one I got in! Gotta love writing some Happy Hogan, esp since his tag here on AO3 defiantly needs some love. 
> 
> Also, the title came as inspo from [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8_Xx1eadlk) song, which I heard on my local radio and thought was nice.

Happy Hogan had only fell in love once. It had been a July afternoon, and on a rare day off, he had found a television show that he couldn’t take his eyes off. He’d never tell a soul, but after falling for _Downtown Abbey_ , he had been a changed man. Inside. Outside, he kept the serious demeanour he’d always had, because if anyone knew his guilty pleasure, well, that would be it for his reputation.

He’d thought because of the restrictions of his job position, he’d have little to no chance of falling in love again, but this time, with a real person, and not a period drama. He was very work-oriented, kept himself in a schedule to be working nearly around the clock for Mr. Stark. Initially, he’d needed that, but since the guy outed himself on national television as Iron Man, he rarely needed a driver when he had a suit on hand. Before the move to the facility upstate, Happy busied himself as the onsite bodyguard for Ms. Potts, and the various other Avengers-adjacent guests who graced the properties of Mr. Stark. But since the move…he’d had a more, _full-time_ position.

Babysitter.

Happy didn’t mind the idea in the first place. It had been a flippant ‘ _yes_ ’ on his behalf, because, how hard could being a driver for a young adult be? It had been some time since he had been a kid, and just as long since he’d been around children, but that did not prepare him for the task of driving Peter Parker. He had known the kid for half a minute before deciding that he needed more coffee when interacting with him. Peter had an energy that Happy had said goodbye to years before, and it made him confused to see him in the odd positions in the backseat of the limousine - upside down from the seats, laying on the floor like a starfish, even once, sitting with his feet attached to the roof. And all the time, he’d be talking. Speaking of school, and his friends MJ and Ned, of his aunt and how cool she was with her small business, the latest jokes on the internet…until it got too much, and Happy zoned out. Often.

One afternoon when he’d arrived at Peter’s aunt’s house in Queens, and, parking the car outside of the house, he was sent a text. He knew it was from Tony’s new AI because of a software bug that made all external messaging systems written in Caps Lock, and not his boss personally. But it wasn’t the bug that made him mad, just the message himself.

Without wasting a second, Happy got out of the car, and leaning against it on the curb side, called Tony Stark on the direct phone line. Three rings of dial tone played in his ear, but when he heard the distinct opening line from Tony - “Talk to me!” - Stark, Happy did indeed, talk.

“What do you mean, Peter doesn’t need driving today?” he asked, sparing no heat from his tone. “I’m the driver.”

On the other side of the line, he assumed that Tony was in a suit, because he heard a few clunks and _whack_ s like a metal spoon hitting a mixing bowl continuously.

“I get that, Hap, but Pete’s aunt got in first.” Tony replied with an ease that only billionaires had.

Happy gritted his teeth, looking up at the brownstone where Peter Parker lived with his Aunt May. Through the curtains on the window above the first-floor door, Happy could see May inside, dancing to music that he couldn’t hear from the street.

“Yeah, well, why do I have eyes on his aunt, if she’s driving him?” he argued.

Tony laughed in response, and it made Happy tighten his hand around the phone by his ear. “The kid has two aunts, what can I say? Besides, I only got the call a quarter of an hour before you made it to the destination, and I _did_ try to contact you during the drive.” There was another _thunk_ , and Happy frowned. He hoped that he was talking to Tony during sparring practice, and not during a hero vs. villain duel. “Oh, screw you Maximoff, you’re getting good.”

Happy flicked his phone over in his hand and hung up the call. He ignored the next automated text message that followed, and pocketing the device, he turned to go back into the car.

“You just missed Peter,” he heard from behind him, and turning, he saw May sticking her head out of the window, giving him a wan smile. “_______ just came by and took him off to the internship.”

He nodded, without the intent to reply to her. It meant that he’d driven all the way into the city for no reason at all, and, if Ms. Potts heard about it, she’d chide him, for sure. He had a lot of things to do in his day - it wasn’t like he did nothing all day but drive Peter Parker around New York state.

“Oh, wait! He forgot his homework.” May called out as he went to get back into the car.

He wondered what May Parker thought happened when Peter went with him to Tony Stark’s premises - perhaps it was all just the kid following Tony around, taking notes? Looking at unreleased scientific models, and in any spare time, being mentored? It was far from it. But Happy wasn’t going to be the one to tell Ms. Parker that her nephew was the next Avengers-sponsored hero, the web-slinger of Queens. Happy would never breach that sort of trust of a hero and their identity, besides, it would be pitiful to out a hero, even a kid. And, even if he did go out and say something, nobody would believe him, even May. The kid drank Gatorade like it was water, fell asleep in odd places and said ‘same’ to anything that resembled, to him, a ‘mood’.

“Thank you so much,” May Parker approached him, holding a small notebook. Happy took it in his hands, and nodding in response, he went to enter the car once more. “I tried to message you about the change of plans, but I don’t think Peter gave me the right phone number.”

“I don’t have a phone.” Happy replied, just as his pocket buzzed, and then, he drove away.

* * *

By the time he made it back to the facility, it was later than he’d anticipated it being, what, with the traffic around the inner city, and the run itself out into the countryside. Just as he pulled up in the driveway, Happy noticed a car he hadn’t seen before, parked just outside the door. It was a red Prius, with a couple of scratches on the paintwork, a dent beside the right-side headlight.

But before he could wonder who owned it, he saw Peter Parker walking out of the front door, with a woman beside him. She looked the same age as May and wore neutral colours with stonewash jeans. As Happy got out of the car, Peter saw him, and, gave him a wave. He wasn’t sure why he didn’t want to be noticed by the pair, but when the woman looked at him, he knew then that this was the feeling he’d felt once before. Fear? Loathing? He wasn’t sure.

“You must be Harold,” the woman smiled at him, walking his way. Happy was filled with a feeling of dread, frozen where he stood. He hadn’t been called Harold in years, not since he first started working for Tony, not since before his boxing career. “Peter has told me so much about you.”

“Um, Aunt _______, he goes by Happy,” Peter corrected his aunt.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Happy managed to get words out of his mouth, and in an intelligible order. “Peter,” he said, turning to the kid, and, passing him the bundle of homework that May had given him earlier, “I didn’t know you had two aunts.”

He nodded. “Yeah,” he beamed. “I’ve got Aunt May, but also Aunt _______. It’s cool.” He looked to her, and asked, “Can I go wait in the car?”

“Sure, Spider-Kid,” _______ grinned, passing Peter the keys to the Prius. “I’ll be two minutes, just want to have a chat with your driver.”

As soon as Peter was outside of earshot, _______ gave him a small smile. “Sorry about the late notice about today. I know that Peter comes out here, and I found a thing on Craigslist out here, and well, I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone, you know? Make a day trip out of it.” she said.

Happy barely heard a word. Sure, he knew what she was saying, understood it, but when the words came from her mouth, it was like it was a chorus of bells, or something heavenly in his ears. He hadn’t felt this feeling for a long time, and now he knew what it was.

“No - no problem.” He replied, trying to sound relaxed. “Um, anytime.”

Happy was aware of the stammer. He wasn’t a stammering kind of guy, he was a tough guy. Someone who only cried over early twentieth century plotlines. But for her? Yes. He was.

There was a _beep_ and the both of them looked over her shoulder to see Peter leaning over to the driver’s side, a hand still on the horn. _______ gave a small laugh, and said, “Well, ah, see you around, Happy.” She gave him a small wave and walked toward her nephew.

Happy wanted so badly for the earth to open and for him to fall in.

* * *

To be honest, he’d been overexaggerating on the whole babysitting part of the job. The driving took place only every Thursday, Saturday and Sunday afternoon, and that wasn’t inclusive of if Peter Parker had a hero emergency that required a Code Spider in the city. But since meeting _______, Happy had taken to filling his time with the things that he used to do back when he had been the ‘forehead of security’ - dealing with Tony personally, escorting the non-powered Avengers to places they needed to be in occasions that didn’t require a Quinjet, the usual. He thought that if he kept busy, he’d take his mind from thinking of _______, how pretty, and nice that she’d been, and really, how much he liked her.

Thursday after Thursday rolled around, but instead of rolling out in the car as usual to Queens, Happy stayed in the upstate facility. Worked on the projects that needed micromanaging, negated issues with F.R.I.D.A.Y. that no doubt could have been done without him, and, when he had a moment spare to himself, he even checked his twitter feed.

Right on time, come one p.m., there was the crunch of gravel outside, and looking up from his cup of coffee, he saw the familiar red Prius. This week, she wore overalls that had oil paint stains all over their front, and a white tee that made Happy forget to breathe. When Peter entered the building, his phone was loud enough so that Happy could hear a video playing on his Instabook, which he didn’t understand, ‘ _I don’t have enough money for chicken nuggets_ ’.

“I know I have a history for being monumentally bad at everything, but hear me out,” Happy heard a voice behind him. Turning, he saw one of the new Avenger recruits, not in the ridiculous suit of his. He hadn’t officially spoken to Scott Lang before, not outside of work-related business, but here he was, sitting on the back of the other couch, a cup of joe in hand. “but, you know, if you love someone. Don’t let it go.”

Happy frowned. “Coming from the hero slash divorced single father?” he questioned, not holding back the sarcasm.

Scott grinned. “Oh yeah. I’m one of those _do what I do, not what I say_ types. Just not with you, and the lady who brings the Teen Spider. I mean, anyone can see you’re in love with her -,”

“I’m not in love with her.” he replied sharply.

“- ah, _yeah_ , and I’m really an Ant.” Scott retorted. He wondered if that was how he won arguments with his young daughter. “My kid has a poster, of a butterfly. _If you love someone set them free_. It’s really depressing, mostly because it’s a Sting lyric, but I had to teach her to not hoard insects because otherwise the house will become an entomological nightmare.”

Happy nodded. “I’m sure a lot of people can relate.”

“ _What I’m saying_ ,” Scott said louder, and inwardly, Happy cringed, hoping nobody was eavesdropping. “Is that you need to make a move, man, before someone else does. We’re in New York. Dating is the old courting. Hook-ups are the new dating. Or whatever.”

“I’m not in love with her,” Happy repeated, unsure if Scott had gotten the message, “because she and May are, you know. Peter’s aunts.”

Scott laughed at him, and from his pocket, withdrew a pack of cards. As he chuckled, the guy shuffled his cards, until he handed them to Happy. He frowned, but, went along with it. “Man, it’s like, 2018? 2019? You know that kids can have aunts that aren’t lesbians, right? You know, friends of the family who they call aunts? Cassie has one, her mum’s friend from high school, whatshername.” He shuffled the cards once again and held up the card that Happy had picked out, and grinned. “So, like I said. Go get her, man.”

Happy nodded, and placing his phone back in his pocket, he grabbed the keys to Mr. Stark’s car, and went after her.

* * *

In hindsight, following a woman via car was not a good plan. For one, she took a lot of turns, taking the scenic route back to the city. He’d been seeing _______ once a week, every week for the last month, almost, and every time when he shared dialogue with her, his heart beat just a little faster. Getting back into the city, though, he watched as her car pulled up ahead, and, she got out. He’d been driving a little behind _______ and saw her wave him over.

Frowning, Happy did so, and got out of the car. He saw her visibly sigh in relief, leaning against the red Prius as if it were a support device, and not a car.

“Thank _goodness_ it’s you, I thought I was being followed by some creep!” she exclaimed, shaking her head in disbelief. “Sorry I didn’t stick around much today, I’ve gotta race home. I’ve got a buyer for an artwork I made, and I’m always nervous around people I’ve never met on the internet -,”

“Sorry I scared you,” Happy said, feeling bad about what he did. “But…if you’ll let me make up for it, I could take you out for coffee, or…” he blinked. “I could come with you to the sale. Scare off bad guys.”

_______ laughed. “You, scare off bad guys?” she grinned, “You’re nothing but a sweetheart.”

He shrugged. “To you, maybe, but…

Her smile widened. “It’s a date, then. Unless,” she said, almost rescinding her words, “you’re not looking for one of those?”

Happy shook his head. “It’s a date.”

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on Tumblr on as @chaotic--lovely, and if you want to request a fic, check out [@pendragonfics](https://pendragonfics.tumblr.com/request_conditions)! ʕ·ᴥ·ʔ✿


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